Pinch-hitter David Murphy delivered a tiebreaking, two-run double in the eighth inning and the Texas Rangers rallied for a 9-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday after raising their American League championship flag.

What's opening day without predictions for the season that lies ahead? Think the Red Sox are going all the way? Four of the seven USA TODAY baseball writers do, but the three who don't each picked a different World Series champion.

One inning Tuesday went a long way toward erasing any questions the Minnesota Twins might have about their closer, but the crucial ninth-inning bullpen role is hardly settled in many spring training camps.

Going into their 100th season at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox are having the most productive offseason of any American League East contender, adding All-Stars Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to the lineup and Bobby Jenks to the back end of the bullpen.

We feel your pain, Andrew Friedman. We know what you're up against, Walt Jocketty. And for you, Bill Smith and Dan O'Dowd, we understand why you did what you did. We've built Team 2010, our annual exercise in balancing talent and economics, and proved it's still possible to create a championship-caliber team at a reasonable price.